• Olney Pedestrian and Bicycle Improvements

    Olney Pedestrian and Bicycle Improvements

    Online Open House #2

  • Welcome!

  • This online open house is now closed. The content is still available for viewing, but we are no longer accepting submissions. Thank you for your participation!

  • Let’s make walking and biking safer on Olney Avenue!

    We're making changes to Olney Ave to make it a safer place to walk, bike, roll and drive.

    The project team heard from the community last summer and refined the design to create a safer route for biking and walking on Olney Ave. We want to show you what we came up with. Read through the information in this open house and then let us know what you think!

    This online open house is available now through April 25.

  • Graphic of project map on Olney Ave

  • Click through the stations to learn more and let us know what you think! Don't forget to click "submit" on the last page. 

  • Accommodation Information for People with Disabilities

    To obtain this information in an alternate format such as Braille, large print, electronic formats, etc. please contact Carrie Theus at ctheus@bandoregon.gov or (541) 323-8564; Relay Users Dial 7-1-1.

  • Background

  • Why are we doing this project?

    We’re planning to improve safety and reduce stress for everyone who uses Olney Avenue.

    Olney Avenue connects to schools, parks, trails, businesses and more — places that kids, parents, commuters and others in the City traveling east to west need to reach. But it’s a tough stretch to safely travel when walking, biking or rolling (i.e., using a wheelchair or other mobility device) — which also makes it a stressful route to drive.

  • We’ll increase safety along Olney Avenue by:

    decorative iconCreating a safer crossing at 2nd Street

    decorative iconPutting dedicated bike facilities under US 97

    decorative iconInstalling dedicated user intersection safety improvements at Wall Street

    decorative iconBuilding a low stress, safer route for people walking and biking from the Deschutes River to 2nd Street

  • We’ve completed a preferred design based on the community feedback from Open House #1 in July 2023, where we looked at three design options. Technical and funding considerations were also reviewed along with the project evaluation criteria and goals. Look through the design to see how this plan will meet the community’s travel needs.

    This project is funded by the Transportation General Obligation (GO) Bond approved by voters in 2020. A community committee oversees the GO Bond and sets priorities for funding. They identified the Olney Pedestrian and Bicycle Improvements project as a high priority. This project will build on other planning projects to make Bend safer and more accessible for everyone.

  • To save money and reduce multiple construction impacts, water and sewer project work will be completed during the Transportation GO Bond improvements. The waterline work happening on Olney Avenue is essential to replace cast iron pipe from the 1950-70s and prevent future pipe ruptures. The sewer improvements happening on Olney Avenue are identified as a project in the City’s 2014 Wastewater Collection System Master Plan to replace and upsize existing pipe segments to support Bend’s growth. On Portland Avenue from the Deschutes River to Wall Street, synergy improvements from the GO Bond’s Portland Avenue Corridor Improvements project and Awbrey Butte Waterline Improvement project are being included with the Olney Pedestrian and Bicycle Improvements project construction.

  • Timeline

    Spring 2023:

    • Analyzed existing and future conditions along the corridor to help develop draft designs
    • Developed project evaluation criteria and goals

    Summer 2023:

    • Shared our draft design options and project evaluation criteria and asked for your input

    Fall 2023 - Summer 2024:

    • Further develop the design and details of selected improvements
    • Two-week online informational open house for preliminary final design

    Fall - Winter 2024:

    • Community pre-construction informational meeting
    • Develop construction staging and plans

    Spring - Fall 2025:

    • Construction

  • Evaluation Criteria

  • How did we choose what work to do?

    Below is a list of “evaluation criteria” for the project, or how we decided which improvements to construct along Olney Ave. The criteria align with the Transportation System Plan goals.

  • Project Goal: Alignment with community goals

    Evaluation Criteria

    • Meets community goals identified in the Transportation System Plan and GO Bond

    Project Goal: Multimodal safety, comfort, and mobility

    Evaluation Criteria

    • Reduces the stress rating for biking and walking along Olney Ave
    • Maintains acceptable traffic standards (for example, minimizes traffic delays)
    • Maintains local freight access

    Project Goal: Meet community needs in a cost-effective way

    Evaluation Criteria

    • High benefit for the associated cost
    • Addresses needs and issues identified by the public.

  • Transportation Talk

  • Engineers and planners use lots of technical language to define transportation concepts. Here is a decoder for the rest of us!

  • Key routes:

    Main routes in the City designed to be “low stress” for people walking and riding bikes that help people get across town safely and get to key destinations like schools and parks. Examples include off street multi-use paths, buffered, separated, raised and/or painted bike lanes, and widened sidewalks. Think of these as highways or arterials for biking and walking. (This is a term from the Bend Transportation System Plan.)

    Olney Avenue and Wall Street are key routes on this project.

  • Low stress network:

    A network of streets and crossings designed to allow everyone to travel safely and comfortably when biking, walking or driving. Think of these as local connector roads for biking and walking.

    2nd Street and the Deschutes River Trail are part of the low stress network.

  • Dedicated intersection:

    People on bikes can be given a dedicated path through the intersection even where there is not enough space for a full bike setback. By providing excellent visibility and low turn speeds, dedicated bikeway intersections provide key improvements over conventional bike lane intersections.

    To reduce conflicts between bikes and turning vehicles on busy streets, turn speed reduction techniques and new signal phasing patterns can complement the design of the dedicated bike intersection. These techniques include corner wedges (see #3 below), which feature a modular speed bump or similar element over which vehicles are permitted to turn at low speeds.

    For more information see NACTO description.

  • Illustration demonstrating a dedicated intersection

    Click the image to enlarge in a new tab

  • Shared use paths (SUP):

    are a type of trail designed to be part of a transportation system, providing off-road routes for a variety of users. The primary users of shared use paths are bicyclists and pedestrians, including pedestrians using mobility devices such as manual or motorized wheelchairs (NACTO, 2011)

  • Right-of-way basics:

    A public right-of-way is how the public travels within the City limits. Land within the right-of-way may be used for public streets, sidewalks, curbs, alleys, portions of driveways, public and private utilities, etc. Right-of-way width varies by location and often extends well into what appears to be private property.

    Right-of-way is also where utilities run their lines, including power, water, sewer, cable, telephone, and fiber optic. Additionally, the City has utilities such as water, sewer, and stormwater located within the right-of-way.

    Permanent utility easements may also exist within private property and can be obtained through a title report. Property owners are responsible for clearing obstructions in the right-of-way. These include overgrown private trees, plants, shrubs, grass or vegetation, and snow removal, extending from their front door to the curb.

  • Graphic about understanding the right of way and it's four variations: One there is no sidewalk and the right of way extends into the yard, Two the sidewalk is next to the street and the right of way extends across the sidewalk and ends at the edge of the sidewalk nearest to the home,Three the sidewalk is next to the street and the right of way extends across the sidewalk and slightly into the yard, four there is a strip of landscape between the street and the sidewalk. THe right of way extends beyond the lanscape strip and then to the far side of the sidewalk nearest to the home.

    Click the image to enlarge in a new tab.

  • View Bend’s full map open in new tab icon of key routes and the low-stress network.

  • What We Heard

  • What we heard from the community about improvements they would like to see on Olney Avenue

  • In July 2023, the city of Bend held a bilingual in-person and online open house and survey to gather input on what the community’s priorities are to improve safety and reduce stress when using Olney Avenue. 100 people shared their thoughts about safety and accessibility improvements for people biking and walking in the area.

  • Key Themes and Priorities from the Open House

    • Safer and more comfortable places to walk, bike, and roll.
    • Improvements at the intersection of Olney Avenue and Wall Street. Survey participants expressed frustrations about making turns as a driver and bike user, lack of visibility as a pedestrian, and the bike signal not detecting bike users.
    • Increased safety at the Deschutes River Trail crossing on Portland Avenue.
    • Over half of participants expressed they would like to be able to comfortably walk, bike, or roll on Olney Avenue for daily commuting.

  • people engaging with display boards at the Olney open house

    • For more details on what we heard in the July survey. 
      1. The top project priorities expressed for Olney Avenue in the open house survey were the following:
        • Safer and more comfortable places to bike (78% supported as a top 3 priority)
        • Improvements at the intersection of Olney Avenue and Wall Street (52% supported as a top 3 priority)
        • Safer and more comfortable places to walk (48% supported as a top 3 priority)
      2. Open house participants expressed a strong desire to feel protected when biking on Olney Avenue. They have concerns specifically when on curves, and crossing intersections like Wall Street, Second Street and First Street.
      3. The Wall Street and Olney Avenue intersection got the most feedback as a place where people do not feel safe traveling. Making turns here and riding a bike through this intersection was reported as being especially stressful, specifically the westbound right-turn slip lane. People shared frustration with the signal not detecting bikers. Pedestrians on the northwest corner of the intersection do not feel visible to vehicles when waiting and crossing.
      4. The shared-use path and protected bicycle lanes alternatives received the most support from participants, with a shared use path being generally more favored than on-street bike lanes. Most participants had concerns with details and connections of these improvements. A on-street bicycle lane “protected” with flexible tubular markers wouldn’t feel protective to some people and could lead to added maintenance costs. Few people said they would use a shared-use path if it’s not well connected to other routes and easy to reach. The shared-use path was generally more favored than on-street bike lanes, but participants expressed concern about different users sharing the same space- such as people walking, running, biking and e-biking on the same path and in different directions. Additionally, there were concerns of shared space between people driving and biking in on-street bike lanes.
      5. A few businesses/landowners along the project corridor commented on prioritizing vehicle access to their properties on Olney Avenue from both the east and west direction. There is concern from businesses that adding new medians on Olney Avenue will cause access issues and negatively impact business. Continual business access during construction was expressed as critical to operations.
      6. Participants expressed the importance of the connection to the Deschutes River Trail and trail crossing on Portland Avenue.
      7. For traveling on Olney Avenue, 46 participants selected that they drive, 42 participants selected that they bike, 22 participants selected that they e-bike or scooter, and 15 participants selected that they walk. Over half of participants indicated that they would like to use Olney Avenue in the future for daily commuting by biking, walking or rolling.
    • . 

  • Final Design

  • How will we improve Olney Ave?

    We have come up with a final design to improve pedestrian and bicycle safety on Olney Avenue after considering and evaluating the project goals and evaluation criteria, listening to public feedback, and looking at the constraints in this area that would affect project cost.

    The final design will:

    • Bring the railroad crossing on Olney Ave up to current safety standards and fill in gaps in the sidewalk over the railroad
    • Create protected bike facilities under US97
    • Include dedicated user intersection safety improvements at Wall Street
    • Reduce stress for people walking and biking along Olney Ave
    • Create safer crossings at 2nd Street/Olney Avenue and The Deschutes River Trail/Portland Avenue

  • Preferred Design Breakdown

  • Portland Ave from the Deschutes River to Wall St

    Improvements

    • Lighting, striping, signing, and location improvements to trail crossing for increased visibility
    • Two-way shared-use path for walking and biking on south side of Olney Ave
    • Protected bike lane with physical barrier between people biking and motor vehicles
    • Missing bike lane gap filled in on south side of Olney Ave

    Limitations

    This project needs to:

    • maintain the northern sidewalk and retaining wall in Pioneer Park
    • maintain the existing bridge over the river, including the Deschutes River Trail mid-block crossing, until the bridge is replaced in the future

    illustration for the Portland Ave from the Deschutes River to Wall St design

    Click the image to enlarge in a new tab.

  • Olney Ave and Wall St Intersection

    Improvements

    • Dedicated user space (distinct travel spaces for people biking, for people walking or rolling, and for people driving) throughout the whole dedicated intersection
      • Shorter crossing distances for people walking and biking
      • People biking move counter-clockwise around the perimeter of the intersection, from withiin the bike lane
      • Corner island speed bumps provide natural slowing of motor vehicles and bikes to 20 mph or less
      • Drivers turning right and cyclists traveling straight meet at a 90-degree angle with increased visibility instead of traveling side-by-side in potential blinds spots
    • Increased bike signal detection
    • Lighting, striping, and signing improvements to increase visibility

    Limitations

    This project needs to:

    • maintain all existing signal equipment
    • maintain the retaining wall in the NW corner
    • provide the required space for passenger vehicles and large trucks to make turns
    • maintain existing buildings and limit private right-of-way impacts
    • combine the right-turn lane and through travel lane for motor vehicles travelling south

    Note: A protected intersection design was considered for Olney Ave and Wall St but did not move forward due to the above project limitations .

    Illustration for the Olney Ave and Wall St Intersection design

    Click the image to enlarge in a new tab.

  • Olney Ave from Wall St to 2nd St

    Improvements

    • One-way, grade-separated 6.5-7’ bike lanes on both sides of Olney Ave for entire segment
    • Upgrades to the railroad crossing for all users, including center medians and signal
    • Sidewalks replaced where needed and filled in where missing
    • Lighting, striping, and signing improvements to increase visibility

    Limitations

    This project needs to:

    • make changes to the center median islands that consider safety of all users, business access, emergency services response, and City and rail standards. Improvements include mountable medians in the design where possible

    illustration for the Olney Ave from Wall St to 2nd St design, US 97 undercrossing and railcrossing

    Click the image to enlarge in a new tab.

    illustration for the Olney Ave from Wall St to 2nd St design, railcrossing at 1st St

    Click the image to enlarge in a new tab.

  • Olney Ave and 2nd St Intersection

    Improvements

    • Center median refuge islands for pedestrians and cyclists
    • Curb extensions to decrease crossing distances and slow vehicle speeds
    • Lighting, striping, and signing improvements to increase visibility

    Limitations

    This project needs to:

    • remove left turn lanes at 2nd St
    • maintain left turn lanes at 1st St and 3rd St

    Note: Project limits end east of 2nd St.

    Illustration for the Olney Ave and 2nd St Intersection design

    Click the image to enlarge in a new tab.

  • View the full map of design options. open in new tab icon

  • Next Steps

  • Thank you for participating in the Olney Pedestrian and Bicycle Improvements online open house!

    We look forward to connecting with you again at our pre-construction open house prior to the start of construction in Spring 2025.

    Sign up for project emails to stay in touch and learn more as we move forward.

  • Please don't forget to submit your answers below!
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